Floating photovoltaic installations in Japan

Floating photovoltaic installations in Japan

04.09.2014

This is what the floats look like on which the solar modules will be installed. (Photo: Kyocera Corporation)

Installation of the largest floating photovoltaic plant with a capacity of 1.7 MW will begin this month in the Japanese prefecture Hyogo. Additionally to this plant on lake Nishihira, a second park with a capacity of 1.2 MW will be installed on lake Higashihira.

The project is a cooperation between Kyocera Corporation, Ciel et Terre International and Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation. The latter will allocate the funding, while Kyocera will be responsible for providing the solar modules, installation, maintenance and operation of the PV-plant.

More and more floating plants

Overall, Kyocera TCL Solar wants to install floating solar plants with a total capacity of 60 MW until the end of March 2015. For this, the company relies on the floating structures of Ciel et Terre and their know-how about the installation of floating PV plants. In 2011, Ciel de Terre already signed a partnership agreement with the French research and training centre IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) to develop their first floating PV construction. The product “Hydrélio” was introduced onto the international market towards the end of 2012.

According to Ciel et Terre, their modular system is suitable for plants with capacities of up to 12 MW. Every module consists of two floats. The solar module gets installed on one of them and maintenance operations can be done via the other one. With the help of a connection system several floats can be combined to small PV islets. Tests showed that the system of Ciel et Terre remains stable even during hurricane-like conditions. The Hydrélio floats consist of PE-HD (high density polyethylene) and are corrosion- and UV-resistant.

Why Japan?

Photovoltaic plants on water might prove to be alternatives to ground-mounted and rooftop systems. This makes particular sense for Japan, since there suitable land for new PV installations is starting to run out due to the fast development of the local PV sector. Another reason is that Japan already has a lot of water reservoirs to cope with its highly variable rainfall levels. Additionally, floating photovoltaic systems produce more electricity since they are cooled automatically by the water body. Theoretically, also the aquatic environment profits by the solar installation because the shading of the plant prevents excessive water evaporation and limits algae growth.